Portable protective covers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,117,686, entitled “Durable Protective Cover for Preventing Spilled Liquids from Flowing into Drains or Holes”, which is incorporated herein by reference. While such covers work well in preventing liquids from flowing into drains, heavier or larger size units can be difficult to handle and position due to their lack of stiffness across their width. Their intrinsic tackiness can also make removal difficult since there is no feature to facilitate grabbing of the protective cover with sufficient force for removal from drains.